Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
"A Dying Planet. A Fight For Life. The Search For Spock." "Join The Search." James T. Kirk, finding out he made a mistake by leaving Spock on the Genesis planet, must disobey orders and hijack the hobbled Enterprise to retreive his best friend. However, a rogue Klingon seeking the secrets of the "Genesis torpedo" puts Kirk's mission--as well as the Enterprise, its crew, and Spock himself--in jeopardy. Summary : USS ''Enterprise, Captain's Personal Log: With most of our battle damage repaired we are almost home. Yet I feel uneasy, and I wonder why... Perhaps it's the emptiness of this vessel? Most of our trainee crew have been reassigned; Lt. Saavik and my son, David, are exploring the Genesis planet, which he helped create; and Enterprise feels like a house with all the children gone.'' : No... more empty, even, than that. The death of Spock is like an open wound. It seems I have left the noblest part of myself back there on that newborn planet. As a result of Khan Noonien Singh's attempt to kill James T. Kirk using the Genesis Device in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock is dead and a new planet has been created from matter within the Mutara Nebula. Dejected over the loss of Spock, the crew returns to port aboard the ''Enterprise'' for essential repairs to their ship, which was severely damaged in the battle against Khan. However, when they arrive, they are shocked to discover that the Enterprise is to be scrapped. Leonard McCoy, meanwhile, is mysteriously being driven insane, speaking maniacally about locations on Vulcan. With an unexpected visit from Sarek, Kirk discovers that McCoy is actually harboring Spock's katra, the result of a mind meld just prior to Spock's suicidal repairs of the engines. Sarek believed that Kirk, Spock's best friend, would have been the one that would have received Spock's katra, but it was only after a mind meld with Kirk that he determined that it was elsewhere. When Harry Morrow, Commander, Starfleet, refuses to allow Kirk to return to the Genesis Planet, which the Federation has deemed off-limits to everyone except the science crew of [[USS Grissom (NCC-638)|USS Grissom]], Kirk and his crew steal the Enterprise from Spacedock and head to Genesis on their own. Kirk is not the only person interested in illicitly going to Genesis. Kruge, a Klingon commanding a Bird-of-Prey, has acquired Kirk's own report on Project Genesis. Impressed by the power inherent to the process, Kruge resolves to travel to Genesis and seize whatever information he can. Kruge regards the Genesis torpedo as a powerful weapon, not as means of creating life. In orbit of Genesis, the Grissom's sensors discover Spock's casket on the surface harboring a life form that they cannot identify. Saavik and David Marcus transport down to conduct a closer examination of the life form. The duo discovers the unidentifiable life form to be an evolved form of microbes that had been present on the casket's surface when it was launched from the Enterprise. Opening the casket, they are puzzled to find Spock's body missing entirely, although they recover the burial robe. Before the scientists can speculate further they are interrupted by what sounds like somebody screaming in the distance, and Saavik and Dr. Marcus set off to find the source. After a final futile appeal to Morrow, Kirk's plan to return to Genesis begins to take shape. Despite being reassigned to the [[USS Excelsior|USS Excelsior]] as 'Captain of Engineering', Scotty secretly makes essential repairs to the Enterprise in addition to slaving the ship's controls to the main bridge. Uhura accepts a post as a transporter operator in San Francisco, with the covert task of beaming Kirk and company aboard the Enterprise at the required moment. Matters are complicated when Dr. McCoy, influenced by the katra, is arrested by Federation Security while attempting to charter a civilian ship to Genesis, independent of his shipmates' efforts. Kirk and Sulu are forced to rescue the doctor. In the process they assault Federation personnel and the trio barely escape from the prison. With the doctor secure, Kirk and his crew (minus Uhura, who makes her way directly to Vulcan) rendezvous aboard the Enterprise which is still docked within Spacedock. Unable to stop the Enterprise from opening the bay doors, the Excelsior is ordered to pursue. However, due to sabotage carried out by Scotty, the Excelsior's transwarp drive fails to activate and the Enterprise escapes at warp speed. Unaware of events back in Sol, Saavik and Dr. Marcus locate a young Vulcan boy and concludes that it is Spock, somehow regenerated by the same process that created the Genesis planet. Captain Esteban, citing regulations, refuses to permit Spock to be beamed aboard the Grissom immediately. This turns out to be fortuitous as shortly afterward the Grissom is unintentionally destroyed by Kruge's vessel. Kruge had desired to take the science ship, and its data, intact and in a rage executes the subordinate responsible for the 'lucky shot'. Now marooned on the surface and in danger of being captured, Saavik, Dr. Marcus, and Spock flee to more defensible ground. Kruge and several members of his crew beamed to the surface of the Genesis planet to pursue the surviving crew of the Grissom. Saavik finally found out why the Genesis planet was changing so rapidly: David had used protomatter in the Genesis device, a substance known to be unstable. The Genesis planet was not likely to remain stable for very long, and it was causing the rapid evolution of the lifeforms on the planet as well as making Spock age rapidly. As night fell on the planet, David guarded the location where he, Saavik and Spock were hiding. Spock, now aged to adolescence, began to experience pon farr. Saavik determined that the only way Spock would make it through this portion of his accelerated growth would be for her to mate with him. As Enterprise entered orbit around the Genesis planet, they briefly detected a ship, but it vanished. They scanned the planet, looking for life on it. Meanwhile, as day broke at their hiding place, David, Saavik and Spock were captured. Shortly after, Kruge returned to his Bird-of-Prey to confront the Enterprise. As they snuck closer, Kirk and Sulu were able to notice the spatial distortions caused by the Bird-of-Prey's cloaking device. As soon as the Klingon vessel de-cloaked, Enterprise reflexively fired two photon torpedos, both hitting. Kruge demanded emergency power to the thrusters, as Enterprise's shields malfunctioned. The Bird-of-Prey fired one plasma charge, which struck Enterprise's port nacelle, leaving it dead in space. Kirk hailed the Bird-of-Prey, demanding that they surrender within two minutes or face destruction. Kruge determined that Enterprise was in no position to dictate terms, and called Kirk's bluff, ordering him to turn over all information he had on Project Genesis (which he called the "Genesis torpedo"). He revealed that he had prisoners on the surface. Both David and Saavik spoke to Kirk by communicator, and Saavik revealed that Spock was with them, alive. David said that he couldn't believe that Kruge would kill them for Genesis, which did not work. Kruge challenged that by ordering his men on the surface to kill any one of the prisoners. One of the men stalked behind with his d'k tahg knife unsheathed. He chose Saavik. However, as he reared back to sink the blade into the Vulcan's back, David shot backward and attacked the Klingon. David didn't stand a chance as he was knocked down, and stabbed through the heart. Onboard, Kirk heard Saavik over the communicator: David Marcus was dead. Distraught over the death of his son, Kirk broke down, then surrendered. Kruge gave Kirk two minutes to prepare to be boarded. Kirk responded by activating Enterprise's auto-destruct mechanism, with the help of Scotty and Chekov. He chose Mode 0, the dereliction mode, then quickly beamed to the Genesis planet's surface as Klingons from the Bird-of-Prey beamed onto the Enterprise. Shortly thereafter, the self destruct detonated, and multitudes of small charges destroyed the hull of the U.S.S. Enterprise section by section, killing the Klingon boarding party as well. Large charges then blew up most of the saucer section, and knocked the lifeless hull out of orbit, where it burned up helplessly in the Genesis planet's atmosphere while Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, Chekov and Scotty watched from below. The U.S.S. Enterprise was no more. Sulu detected lifeforms only a few kilometers away. The Enterprise crew found Saavik, Spock and Kruge. As the Genesis planet began tearing itself apart, the battle began. Most of the Klingons, except for Kruge, died, mostly due to falling into cracks forming in the Genesis planet's crust. Sulu, Chekov, Scotty, McCoy and Saavik beamed onto the Bird-of-Prey. Kruge and Kirk fought; Kruge was prepared to kill himself in the battle. Fortunately, Kirk won out, managing to kick Kruge into the forming chasms in the crust. He picked up Spock, who was now unconscious but back to around the physical age he was when he died, and tricked Maltz into beaming him onboard the Bird-of-Prey. Maltz, the last remaining member of its crew, surrendered, but Kirk refused to kill him as punishment. Scotty got the Klingon systems figured out, and they set a course for Vulcan as the Genesis planet vaporized. The Bird-of-Prey landed near Mount Seleya, where they were greeted by Sarek and Uhura. A ceremony was then officiated by the Vulcan priestess T'Lar, who determined that Spock, indeed, was alive. Sarek, stating that his logic was uncertain as far as his son was concerned, requested that Spock's katra be reintegrated with its body in the fal-tor-pan ceremony. McCoy agreed to this despite being warned that there were risks involved. In a brief ceremony, T'Lar initiated a mind meld with both Spock and McCoy, and succeeded in restoring Spock's soul to him. Spock rose, alive and slowly regaining his memories. In the end, he gave Kirk his name: "Jim. Your name...is Jim." Memorable Quotes "Computer, this is Admiral James T. Kirk. Request security access. Computer, destruct sequence one, code: 1-1-A. Computer, Commander Montgomery Scott, chief engineering officer. Destruct sequence two, code: 1-1-A-2-B. Computer, this is Commander Pavel Chekov, acting science officer. Destruct sequence three, code: 1-B-2-B-3. Destruct sequence completed and engaged. Awaiting final code for one minute countdown. Code: zero, zero, zero, destruct, zero. Destruct sequence is activated." : - Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov ordering the computer to condemn the ''Enterprise'' to destruction "My God'' Bones... what have I done?" : - '''Kirk', commenting on the destruction of the Enterprise "I... have ''had... en''ough'' of... you!" : - '''Kirk', kicking Kruge into the lava "Forgive me, T'Lar. My logic...is uncertain, where my son is concerned." : - Sarek, requesting Spock's katra be reunited with his body "Because the needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many." : - Kirk, explaining to Spock why he returned for him "Jim – your name is Jim!" : - Spock, as his memory begins to return "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain!" : - Scotty, explaining how the removal of four small parts cripples the [[USS Excelsior|USS Excelsior]]. "You Klingon bastard, you killed my son. You Klingon bastard you killed my son! You Klingon bastard." : - Kirk, to Kruge just after David dies "I give two minutes, for you and your gallant crew." : - Kruge, shortly after the death of David "Up your shaft." : - Scotty, to Excelsior's turbolift. "I'd be grateful Admiral, if you'd give the word." : - Scotty, to Admiral Kirk on the Enterprise Bridge "I do not ''deserve to live." "''Fine, I'll kill you later." : - Maltz and Kirk "You should beam the Vulcan up too." "No." "Why not?" "Because you wish it." : - Kirk and Kruge, speaking on Genesis. Background Information * Harve Bennett's 16-page outline for this film was entitled Return To Genesis. * This movie marks the first live-action appearance of Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) since his introduction seventeen years earlier in TOS: "Journey to Babel" (not counting TAS: "Yesteryear"). * Judi Durand voices her first computer in this movie. She goes on to play the Cardassian computer voice in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. * The ''Excelsior''-class, the ''Oberth''-class, the Spacedock, and the Klingon Bird-of-Prey all make their first appearances here. They will continue to be used in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. The Bird-of-Prey appears in every subsequent movie, until Star Trek Generations, its last movie appearance. * In an early draft of the script, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey was originally to be a stolen Romulan vessel (the red "feather design" of the wings' underside was designed with the original Romulan Bird-of-Prey in mind), but that detail was dropped from the final draft. * The Enterprise destruct sequence was previously used in TOS: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" with Mr. Spock's command codes used in place of Chekov's. * Leonard Nimoy originally wanted Edward James Olmos as Kruge, but Paramount Pictures nixed the casting. Olmos would go on to play William Adama in Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica revival in 2003. * The climactic fight between Kirk and Kruge was originally supposed to feature huge boulders that would "burst" up from the ground. On the day of shooting, however, the boulders failed to work properly and the scene was shot without them (however, one of them worked correctly and was used to propel Kruge into the air to attack Kirk at the onset of their fight). * This film features the first appearance of tribbles since TAS: "More Tribbles, More Troubles". * Paramount continued its practice of seeking Design Patents for designs from the Star Trek movies with this film as well. It obtained patents for several props, the ''Excelsior'', and the Klingon Bird-of-Prey. * Filming on Star Trek III began on Monday, . The opening scene on the Enterprise bridge was the first to be filmed. * During production, a fire broke out behind the Paramount lot which caused minor damage to the Genesis Planet set. Among those who assisted in putting out the fire was actor William Shatner. According to Shatner's Movie Memories book, he was in full Kirk costume and makeup when he helped with the fire. Shatner also accounted in his book that he was terrified the fire was going to hold up filming and thereby make him late for reporting back to start filming the new season of TJ Hooker, the police drama that Shatner was starring in at the time that Star Trek III (and later IV) was filmed. Links and References Cast *William Shatner as Kirk *DeForest Kelley as McCoy *James Doohan as Scotty *Walter Koenig as Chekov *George Takei as Sulu *Nichelle Nichols as Uhura *Robin Curtis as Saavik *Merritt Butrick as David *Phil Morris as Trainee Foster *Scott McGinnis as "Mr. Adventure" *Robert Hooks as Admiral Morrow ;and as Spock *Carl Steven as Spock, age 9 *Vadia Potenza as Spock, age 13 *Stephen Manley as Spock, age 17 *Joe W. Davis as Spock, age 25 *Leonard Nimoy as Spock (adult) ;The Merchantship *Paul Sorenson as [[Merchantman_personnel#Human_Captain|the Merchantman captain]] *Cathie Shirriff as Valkris ;The Klingons *Christopher Lloyd as Kruge *Stephen Liska as Torg *John Larroquette as Maltz *Dave Cadente as the Sergeant *Bob Cummings as Gunner #1 *Branscombe Richmond as Gunner #2 ;USS Grissom *Phillip R. Allen as Captain Esteban *Jeanne Mori as Helm *Mario Marcelino as Communications ;The Bar *Allan Miller as Alien *Sharon Thomas as the Waitress *Conroy Gedeon as the Civilian Agent ;The Excelsior *James B. Sikking as Captain Styles *Miguel Ferrer as First Officer ;The Vulcans *Mark Lenard as Sarek *Katherine Blum as the Child *Dame Judith Anderson as T'Lar (credited as "High Priestess") ;Others *Gary Faga as Prison Guard #1 *Douglas Alan Shanklin as Prison Guard #2 *Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand (credited as "Woman in Cafeteria") *Charles Correll as Spacedock Worker (uncredited) ;Stand-Ins * Robin Kellick * Philip Weyland * Kimberly L. Ryusaki * Steve Blalock ;Voices * Frank Welker as Spock's screaming * Teresa E. Victor as ''Enterprise'' Computer * Harve Bennett as Flight Recorder * Judi Durand as Spacedock controller * Frank Force as (''Excelsior'') Elevator Voice * The Loop Group as Background Voices ;Uncredited * Dennis Ott as a Klingon Stunts * Steve Blalock * David Burton * Phil Chong * Jean Coulter * Eddy Donno * Kenny Endoso * Jim Halty * Chuck Hicks * Jeff Jensen * Al Jones as stunt double for Christopher Lloyd * Don Charles McGovern * John Meier as stunt double for William Shatner * Tom Morga * Alan Oliney * Chuck Picerni, Jr. * Danny Rodgers * R.A. Rondell - Stunt Coordinator * Frank James Sparks * Ron Stein - Stunt Coordinator * David Zellitti Media * "Genesis Project" by Craig Hundley * "I Remember You" by Johnny Mercer & Victor Schertzinger * "That Old Black Magic" by Johnny Mercer & Harold Arlen * "Tangerine" by Johnny Mercer & Victor Schertzinger References Altair water; antimatter inducer; auto-destruct; blue alert; chimpanzee; cloaking device; computer voice; ''Constitution''-class; d'k tahg; Deltan; Earth Spacedock; ''Enterprise'', USS; ''Excelsior''-class; ''Excelsior'', USS; ''Federation''-class; French language; Genesis Device; Genesis (planet); Genesis sector; "Great Experiment, The"; ''Grissom'', USS; ''Hermes''-class; katra; kellicam; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; Klingon Empire; Klingon monster dog; Klingonese; Klingons; Kruge's Bird-of-Prey; lexorin; medical tricorder; McCoy, David; Merchantman; Mount Seleya; ''Oberth''-class; Old City Station; type 2 phaser; Project Genesis; protomatter; prototype; ''Saladin''-class; shakedown cruise; Orbital shuttle; Skon; Solkar; terminium; transwarp computer; transwarp drive; tricorder; Vulcan; Vulcans; Vulcan gong; warp drive External Links * * * Filming Locations at Film in America Search for Spock, The de:Star Trek III: Auf der Suche nach Mr. Spock es:Star Trek III: The Search for Spock fr:Star Trek III: The Search for Spock nl:Star Trek III: The Search for Spock pl:Star Trek III: The Search for Spock sv:Star Trek III: The Search for Spock